Shopper 'Shocked' To Discover Oranges Are Not Vegan

It's getting a lot easier to be vegan, but one shopper has shared how you can still get caught out by the unlikeliest of items.

Being vegan involves spending an annoying amount of time reading the ingredients fine print, yet as this surprised shopper has revealed, it turns out that even fruit isn't safe.

The woman in question was shopping in her local supermarket when she made the 'shocking' discovery that several items of fruit she had wanted to buy weren't vegan.

Browsing the oranges, mandarins and satsumas on offer in the shop, she found that all of the products carried a label warning that they were 'non-vegan.'

Taking to Twitter to share her surprise, the woman wrote: "I am shocked to find out that the oranges I was trying to buy all day are not vegan. Pfft."

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She went on to explain that she'd initially made the discovery at Tesco.

After checking the retailer's website, she found that the the supermarket's ‘Tesco Finest Emperor Oranges 4 Pack' were labelled as not suitable for vegans.

But after hunting around other local stores, she realised that the fruit was also labelled non-vegan in other major stores, including Morrisons and M&S.

According to My London, the 'non-vegan' labelling isn't just an awkward packaging mistake.

Apparently some oranges and other fruits actually are unsuitable for vegans, and it's all due to the chemicals used to grow them.

Common pesticides used to enhance the growing process of certain fruits to give them a better appearance often include animal-based substances, like imazalil, which is made from shellac (a resin secreted by bugs) and other similar substances used to give fruit a better shine which are often made from beeswax.

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For some vegans, this might not be an issue, but for those who refuse to eat any animal-derived products whatsoever, these pesticides rule out a whole bunch of common fruit and veg that most vegans wouldn't think twice about popping in their shopping basket.

On social media, people have taken to sharing screenshots of other surprising non-vegan products, including lemons and some fruit juices.

It's also sparked debate about the use of pesticides in our food, with one person writing: "The fact that Tesco themselves state that their oranges (fruit) are not suitable for vegans should raise concerns, even for non vegans."

It's not clear whether the use of certain pesticides on oranges and other fruit has changed recently, or for how long the products have been labelled unsuitable for vegans.

Topics: Food And Drink, Vegan

Hannah Smith

Hannah is a London-based journalist covering news and features for UNILAD and LADBible. She's especially interested in social and political activism and culture.